AND ANOTHER THING
Just for once, give the monarch an even break
PAUL JOHNSON
Britain is in a state of acute desponden- cy, demoralisation and near despair, caused by the worst recession since the Thirties and the most incompetent government any- one can remember. When people are unhappy they do irrational things. In our present predicament, one form this irra- tionality has taken is a bloody-minded, can- tankerous assault on the monarchy, one of the few institutions in our country which still actually works, and is admired and envied throughout the world.
Of course reforms were required — what institution which has lasted over a millenni- um does not need them from time to time? Almost everyone, from dukes to dustmen, thinks the Queen should pay income tax like the rest of us. That change is in hand. Again, almost everyone feels there are too many 'royals'. Some of them have behaved, to use no harsher word, foolishly; the worst offender has been the Duchess of York, for whom I feel a particular distaste as she has brought red hair into disrepute. She should be booted out into well merited obscurity, and no doubt soon will be. The number of those classified as royal, and on the civil list, should be severely reduced. But this change, too, is already in hand.
As for the Queen herself, she must won- der, 'What on earth have I done to be the object of so much hostile comment?' She has recently had most of her principal house burned down, a devastating and numbing experience which anyone who has suffered a house fire will know all about. Normally such a misfortune evokes univer- sal sympathy. In the Queen's case, it has been made the occasion for yet more attacks on her personal integrity, attacks of a peculiarly ill-informed and venomous nature.
The Queen has been our head of state for over 40 years, and throughout has behaved with dignity, decorum and devo- tion to duty. She has made one or two errors of judgment — which of us has not? — but during this long period she has per- formed her difficult constitutional role with conspicuous success, as all her prime minis- ters who are still alive will testify. She is a shy woman, like Queen Victoria, and her interests are chiefly those of a typical coun- trywoman. I must admit that, given the choice, I would rather spend an evening with the Queen of Denmark, a delightful Cambridge bluestocking endowed with a forceful and original mind, with whom one
can discuss Proust or Kierkegaard or theol- ogy or the merits of the latest production of Otello or almost any other subject, with pleasure and profit. Our Queen, by con- trast, is more interested in horses and dogs, and I dare say prefers to read Sporting Life rather than The Spectator. But there is nothing wrong with that. Many of her suc- cessful forebears, from Henry II and Edward III to Henry V, had similar inter- ests. Charles II, perhaps the most popular monarch we have ever had, was also a horse and dog fancier. History indicates that monarchs with intellectual pretensions, like Henry III or George IV, do not do well here. That wise and learned historian, G.M. Young, once shrewdly observed, 'The dan- ger of having an educated king is that he would be bound to find some section of his subjects ridiculous.' Our Queen is in no danger of finding any of us ridiculous. On the contrary, I believe she views all her sub- jects with warm and disinterested affection.
The Prince of Wales, of course, poses some problems. So has every heir apparent, flattered out of his senses from earliest childhood. Most have been failures. Those that have succeeded have been hardened by terrible childhood experiences Edward III, for instance, whose father was brutally tortured to death; Henry V, who spent his childhood, along with his father, as a target for assassination; or Charles II, a hunted fugitive, his early manhood over- shadowed by the horrific experience of hav- ing to wait, in impotent exile, while his father was subjected to a show trial and judicially murdered. Our Prince of Wales does his best. He has never been allowed to have a proper job. Whenever he expresses an opinion, there is a row. But why should not a middle-aged man who has had a vari- ety of experiences speak his mind on things about which he cares passionately? He may be royal but that does not mean he has to act like a zombie. My chief complaint about him is that he always seems so glum. He should cheer up and look on the brighter `Apparently babies come from. cock-ups.' side of life. If he and his wife separate and it may be that the die is already cast he really will have something to be glum about.
Given a chance, the Princess of Wales could still play a decisive part in rescuing the monarchy from its present troubles. She may not be royal-born but she has the magic of monarchy in abundance. When she visits the sick or the poor she knows exactly how to make them forget their pain, if only for a few moments, to infuse hope in the despairing, to create a moment of hap- piness for those whose lives are drab, mis- erable and deprived — a moment they will treasure all their lives. She identifies with people, whatever their condition. I was struck by a remark she made recently while visiting a housing estate. A woman told her that the material conditions were not too bad — she had no complaints — but that there seemed to be a shortage of men, especially nice ones. To which the Princess replied, 'My dear, that's the story of all our lives.' A woman who can make a remark like that would become a splendid Queen. I wish the the Prince of Wales would swallow his injured pride and admit he is still mar- ried to a treasure.
The present troubles of the royal family may be largely forgotten within six months. I say this having recently made a study of the circumstances surrounding George IV's unsuccessful attempt to get rid of his embarrassing spouse, Queen Caroline, in 1820, which involved a trial in the House of Lords in which the most specific details of the Queen's sexual life were minutely examined. The recent hubbub over tapes was nothing to it. Hazlitt wrote:
It is the only question I have ever known that excited a thorough popular feeling. It struck roots into the heart of the nation; it took pos- session of every house and cottage in the kingdom.
Yet once the trial was abandoned, public interest evaporated overnight, and the fol- lowing year George IV was crowned in great splendour and to rapturous applause.
The Queen should take comfort from the fact that public memory is short, while the Crown has a permanent place in the hearts of the people. The vast majority of her sub- jects should drink her health with fervent • loyalty this Christmas, thankful that they have a good Queen; and I believe that is precisely what they intend to do.
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